Monday, February 24, 2014

Forget the Kennedy's Are The Dingells America's Royalty? Do They Own That Congressional Seat?

Today the longest serving congressman in the history of the United States has announced his retirement. John Dingell who was instrumental in the debacal known as the Afordable Health Care Act aka Obamacare.

Dingell, 87, told the Free
Press that he'd reached the decision to retire at the end of his current term —
his 29th full one — rather than run for re-election because it was time, given
a list of achievements that any other member of Congress would envy, and his
continued frustration over partisan gridlock. Dingell replaced his father in
Congress and, like him, made health care his overriding passion.

For weeks, rumors had
circulated that Dingell — who last June surpassed the late Sen. Robert Byrd of
West Virginia as the longest-serving member of Congress — might be considering
retirement. While clearly sharp mentally — he could be seen in recent months
peppering witnesses with questions before his beloved Energy and Commerce
Committee — time has had taken its toll on his body, forcing him to use
crutches or a wheelchair to get around

Debbie Dingell with her husband John Dingell.

But less than two weeks ago,
his office seemed to put those rumors to rest with an e-mail to constituents in
which Dingell vowed to fight on for extended unemployment benefits and "to
protect the many workers and industries important to southeast Michigan."
In the e-mail, he said he would "continue to reiterate to my colleagues
that the words 'compromise' and 'conciliation' should not be considered dirty
words in Washington."

Dingell, who will be 88 in
July, was expected to let his staff know about the decision on Monday morning
and then announce it publicly at a noon luncheon at the Southern Wayne County
Chamber of Commerce in Southgate.

Dingell's 28 years young wife, Deborah, (60) who
with her husband makes up one of Washington's and southeastern Michigan's most
prominent power couples, is widely considered a possible candidate. The 12th
Congressional District is considered a relatively safe Democratic district.

Hopefully voters will keep an open mind when voting for that congressional seat later this year. We do not have royalty in this county and no seat is reserved.